With the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Class 5A, District 12 tournament on the line and trailing by a goal at the final water break with 20 minutes remaining, the Patriots unleashed an inspired outburst to overtake Northeast in a 5-3 road victory.

The Patriots (12-2) got goals from Brandon Andrews, Thirasaik Boonneangrsi and Matt Olver in a 10-minute span to snatch a victory away from the Vikings.

"They brought it all together," Bruce said.

"They were determined to show who the better team was. I told them at the water break if you guys want to have a chance to be the No. 1 seed, you need to pull this out."

At that point, the Vikings (7-5) were in control, having wiped out a 2-0 deficit with three straight goals. Victor Saucedo tied the score up shortly after halftime. And with 23 minutes left, Kyle Apperson left a pass that Lucas Villarreal was able to run up on and bury to give Northeast the 3-2 lead.

"We knew they would come back," Andrews said. "They fell behind, and I think we started getting lazy."

But four minutes later, Andrews used his left foot to tie the score from short range. And a few minutes after that, Jordan Kaylor headed a Blake Andrews corner kick toward the goal, where Boonneangsri was waiting to head it into the net for a 4-3 Patriots lead.

Northeast keeper Marino Pavicic was able to stop a handful of point-blank attempts as the Patriots tried to finish things off. But Pinellas Park finally got one through when Olver scored on an assist from Blake Andrews in the 80th minute.